Christian Education Full Article
Christine Garton is having thyroid cancer surgery March 26 and will be out of the office through April 8. (We all wish you a full and speedy recovery. Are prayers will be with you)
THANK YOU to our March 2nd-5th grade teachers: Debbie DeGennaro, Amy McGoldrick, and Christine Garton.
THANK YOU to everyone who donated items to the Silent Auction! Those who donated include Marilyn Curry, Judy Fisher, Elaine Patterson, & Diane Young. And thank you to Green Door on High St. for giving a discount for some of the items purchased for the Silent Auction. $293 was raised for our Youth Mission Trip to New Jersey this June.
THANK YOU to everyone who attended the Talent Show and purchased items at the Silent Auction. We appreciate your support!
Bags of INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED candy are needed for the Easter
Egg Hunt. Please leave donations on the bench outside of Christine Garton's office by Wednesday, April 9. Thanks in advance!
LENTEN WORKSHOP FOR ALL AGES: A self-directed Lenten Workshop will be available in the Molyneaux Lounge after worship on Palm Sunday, April 13. Come by and do a few activities, and feel free to take materials home. Activities for children, youth, families, and adults without children in the home will be available.
ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT SPAGHETTI LUNCH FUNDRAISER benefitting our Youth Mission Trip to New Jersey will be held on
Sunday, April 27 at 11:20 AM in the Seminary. Cost is $7 for adults, $4 for children 10 and under. Maximum cost per family is $25. If you plan to attend, please sign up on the sheet outside the secretary's office or in the Molyneaux Lounge. We hope you'll join us for this fellowship opportunity with your church family!
YOUTH NEWS
HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH GROUP will meet April 6 from 11:15 AM-12: 15 PM in the youth room with high school intern Jenn Burns. Lunch will be provided. No meeting April 20 due to Easter.
MIDDLE SCHOOL YOUTH GROUP will meet April 13 & April 27 from 11:15 AM-12: 15 PM in the youth room with middle school interns Emily Goetz & Cassidy Venema. Lunch will be provided.
EASTER SUNDAY IS APRIL 20. THE MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES WILL NOT MEET THAT MORNING.
Youth volunteers are needed to hide Easter eggs for the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 12 at 1:30 PM. Event will happen rain or shine. If you can help, please contact Christine Garton.
APRIL YOUTH OUTING IS THE PRESBYTERY'S YOUTH RETREAT APRIL 4-6.
FAMILY NEWS
OUR EASTER EGG HUNT will be held on Saturday, April 12 @ 2 PM, rain or shine. Children up through 5th grade are invited. The community is welcome to attend! Refreshments, prizes, and an Easter storybook will be read after the hunt.
A self-directed Lenten Workshop will be available in the Molyneaux Lounge after worship on Palm Sunday, April 13. Come by and do a few activities, and feel free to take materials home. Hope to see you there!
Kirkmont Center's summer camp schedule is online! Go to www.kirkmontcenter.com to see the schedule and to register your child or youth for summer camp. Our church has scholarship money available to ANY camper from our church.
Register your child or youth for camp, then contact Christine Garton so the church can pay HALF of your camper fees!
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL will be held July 11-13 at Faith Lutheran Church. The theme is "Wilderness Escape: Where God Guides and Provides." All children ages 3 through entering 5th grade are invited. Youth entering 6th-12th grades are invited to be helpers. And adult volunteers are needed. A list of volunteer needs will be published soon. If you would like more information, please contact Christine Garton.
ADULT NEWS
24 HOURS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD DVD study will start on Monday, April 28 and will run through May 19. Join us at the Knolls Country Kitchen from 2-3 PM these 4 Mondays to learn more about the dramatic last day of Jesus' life. No reading materials required. Please sign up on the sheet outside the secretary's office or by calling the church office. Christine Garton will lead this study.
CONFIRMAND SPOTLIGHT
Our church is blessed to have 8 wonderful 8th & 9th grade youth in our confirmation class this spring. Between now and May we will get to know some of our confirmands better through a written interview form they filled out. Please continue to pray for these young people and their adult sponsors throughout the confirmation process.
Name: Jordan Chase
How long have you lived in Oxford? My whole life.
Do you have any siblings? I have one younger brother, Jackson, who is 13.
What school do you attend? Talawanda High School
Are you involved in any extra-curricular activities? Club volleyball & Academic Challenge
What are your favorite things to do in Oxford? Go to You're Fired
What do you like to do in your free time? Draw, read, or watch movies.
What's your favorite movie or TV show? Movie: Back to the Future; TV show: Sherlock
If you could have a free, all-expenses paid trip to anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? Somewhere to see the Northern Lights, like Alaska.
What do you want to explore during confirmation class? How stories in the Bible connect with those in other religions.
What would you like the congregation to know about you? I can make a clover with my tongue. (this we gotta see-ed.)
Name: Emma Fisher
How long have you lived in Oxford? 13 years.
Do you have any siblings? Katya Fisher is my little sister.
What school do you attend? Talawanda High School
Are you involved in any extra-curricular activities? Marching band, cross country, swimming.
What are your favorite things to do in Oxford? Go on long walks with my best friend.
What do you like to do in your free time? Read What free time?
What's your favorite movie or TV show? Doctor Who
If you could have a free, all-expenses paid trip to anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? Italy, because it's beautiful and I've always wanted to go there.
What do you want to explore during confirmation class? Other religions.
What would you like the congregation to know about you? I love band and swimming.

KIDS CORNER
KIDS CORNER: JOHN*
His name means, "The Lord is kind." Find him in the Bible in Matthew 4:21.
John was a best friend of Jesus.
Jesus had 12 disciples but only 3 who were his best friends. John and his brother, James, were two of them. Peter was the third.
All three were hardworking fishermen. Jesus had a lot in common with them because he worked hard, too. Jesus was raised in a carpenter's home.
John and James worked on a fishing boat owned by their father, Zebedee. Jesus invited them to follow him and learn about God. So they left their father and their fishing gear and followed Jesus.
John got to know Jesus better than most of the disciples did. Jesus let John, James, and Peter watch him raise a girl from the dead. They also joined him for a meeting with Elijah and Moses, who came from heaven to talk with Jesus. And these three disciples prayed with Jesus the night he was arrested. That was an important prayer, because the next day, Jesus died.
As Jesus hung on the cross, he told a "beloved disciple" to take care of his mother, Mary. "Treat her like she's your mother," Jesus said. Christian writers later said Jesus was talking to John. The writers said John did as Jesus asked. In Mary's old age, she lived in John's house.
Bible experts say John lived a long time-more than 60 years after Jesus died. During that time, John wrote several books that are now in the Bible. He wrote four books named after him: the Gospel of John and the three letters of John. He also wrote the last book in the Bible, Revelation.
John lived 2,000 years ago in Israel. He's famous because he was a disciple and best friend of Jesus.
TRIVIA QUESTION: What was the name of John's father? Zebedee.
*Taken from Who's Who & Where's Where in the Bible for Kids by Stephen Miller.
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